The Japanese boar (''Sus scrofa leucomystax''), also known as the white-moustached pig,von Siebold, P. F. (1842),
Fauna japonica sive Descriptio animalium qu, in itinere per japoniam suspecto annis 1823-1830
', Volume 1, Müller, pp. 57-58 , or ,Garis, Frederic de & Sakai, Atsuharu (2013), ''We Japanese'', Routledge, p. 106, is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

native to all of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, save for

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

and the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

Taxonomy

It is a small, almost maneless, yellowish-brown subspecies Groves, C. (2008). ''Current views on the taxonomy and zoogeography of the genus Sus.'' pp. 15–29 ''in'' Albarella, U., Dobney, K, Ervynck, A. & Rowley-Conwy, P. Eds. (2008). ''Pigs and Humans: 10,000 Years of Interaction''. Oxford University Press. with distinctive white whiskers extending from the corners of the mouth to the cheeks.

Predators

In many areas of Japan, humans are the only predator for wild boars. The

Japanese black bear The Japanese black bear (''Ursus thibetanus japonicus'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear that lives on two main islands of Japan: Honshu and Shikoku. There are an estimated 10,000 black bears in Japan. The population of black bears on Shi ...

is usually herbivorous, but they can eat livestock. The omnivorous Ussuri brown bear adapted to hunt wild boars. Its former natural predator, the Japanese wolf, is believed to have gone extinct. The Japan Wolf Association has been lobbying to reintroduce

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

into the country to restore the ecological balance which would curb the ballooning populations of deer and boars. However, there is strong public opposition to this plan.

Events

After the March 2011

Fukushima nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...

, wild boars descended from the mountains to the abandoned areas. A DNA analysis showed they thrived there and bred with escaped domestic pigs to form wild pig-boar hybrids. The boars were more likely to survive in the wild compared to the domestic pigs. The invasive genes will disappear as hybrid pigs breed with wild boar.

Culture

Japanese Boar Sus Scrofa Leucomystax at Tama Zoo

It features prominently in

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ance ...

, where it is widely seen as a fearsome and reckless animal, to the point that several words and expressions in Japanese referring to recklessness include references to boars. The boar is the last animal of the oriental zodiac, with people born during the

year of the Pig ''Year of the Pig'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Plot The Sixth Doctor and Peri, vacationing at the Hotel Palace Thermae in 1913 Ostend, encounte ...

being said to embody the boar-like traits of determination and impetuosity. Boars are also seen as symbols of fertility and prosperity. The animal's link to prosperity was illustrated by its inclusion on the ¥10 note during the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, and it was once believed that a man could become wealthy by keeping a clump of boar hair in his wallet.Knight, J. (2003), ''Waiting for Wolves in Japan: An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations'', Oxford University Press, pp. 49-73, It is a popular subject among '' netsuke'' sculptors, and is mentioned in ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' (711-712), the oldest extant Japanese chronicle. The boar also features in

Japanese poetry Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in t ...

, having first appeared in the works of

Yamabe no Akahito Yamabe no Akahito (山部赤人 or 山邊赤人) (fl. 724–736) was a poet of the Nara period in Japan. The ''Man'yōshū'', an ancient anthology, contains 13 '' chōka'' ("long poems") and 37 ''tanka'' ("short poems") of his. Many of his poems ...

. Its importance in the Japanese diet was such that it was exempt from

Emperor Tenmu was the 40th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Tenmu's re ...

's ban on meat-eating in 675.Ishige, Naomichi (2014), ''History Of Japanese Food'', Routledge, pp. 53-54,

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3978212 Suidae Mammals of Japan Endemic fauna of Japan Mammals described in 1842 Wild boars